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IVM. Ff. GIBBS, 0F BOSTON, MASSAGI-IUSETIS.y

MANNER OF. .ARRANGING STAIRCASES IN BUILDINGS.

.Specification of Letters` Patent No. 8,133-, dated June 14:,` 1843.

To all 'whom 1f-'may concern l Be itkniown that I, VILLiaM I. Giens,- of Boston, `-inthe county offSuffolk andState of Massachusetts, have invented certain new or improved' methods of arranging.. staircases. inbuildings and of separating or dividing the` said. buildings into tenements, and'thaty the` following` specification of the same,.taken in connection withfthe accompanying. drawingafully sets forththe nature andprinciples thereoff by which they may be distinguished `froniother inventions of` like character.

By my improvements in building houses or blocks of housesI am enabled to obtain two staircases with the requisite entry room in the samewor about the same space or. super.- ficial area which is` generally consumed in Athe construction.. off` one according to the commonY practice of arranging the same, thereby saving in a block ofhouses a frontage of five feet, ,on the street or passage, in each two thereof;J or in other words-if we suppose each of two houses asgenerally constructed has a width in front ofztwenty feet, or forty feet includinggboth fronts, such may be erected on my improved plan (that is, houses having their parlors and chambers or other roomsfof the same size as those having a frontage of twenty feet on the street) on a lot of land having a front of thirty five feet. I do not intend to be understood that in all cases the saving of land will be in the proportion as above stated, as

the same may vary more or less therefrom` acording to circumstances, but I am desirous of conveying an idea or approximation of the quantity of front or width which may be saved by adopting my plans for the construction of small tenements.

Of the drawings above mentioned, Figure l represents the plan of portions of the front or ground floor of two conjoined tenements or those arranged side by side of each other and having their staircases situated between them. Fig. 2 is a similar plan of the second floors or stories of the same. Fig. 3 denotes a vertical section of the left hand tenement in which the eye of the observer sees the stairs and entrances into the rooms. Fig. -1 is a similar section of the opposite tenement.

Arepresents the flight of steps leading from the sidewalk `of the street to the front or main entrance doors B and C of the two houses. A person entering the house on the -to ascend to the next or third story` he takes a staircase whichshonld commence its rise at a step N, Fig..2. Whenin the entry D he can descend to the cellar o-r room beneath the parlory by a staircaseO; Figs. l, 4, leading from the rear part of the entry and communicating' with the cellar P through a` door A` person enteringthe front door ofthe left. hand house` passes into a small entry or hall R, Fig. l, which communr cates with the parlor S by a doorway T, liligs` 1,3. From the parlor a doorway U opens into 4an entry V, from one side `W of which the ascending stairway X commences (the said. stairway lea-ding to the chambers) and from the side Y a descending staircase Z leads to the cellar or kitchen through a doorway a, Fig. 3. The staircase X lands upon a cross passage b, which opens into the chamber c through a doorway d. The flight of stairs by which the third story chamber is reached commences its rise as indicated by the step e, in Fig. 2. From the above it will be observed that the stair and entry ways of both tenements are interlocked or cross each other in a manner by which the two houses are accommodated with staircases erected on the saine or about the same superficial area heretofore generally employed for one house.

Figs. 5, 6, 7 represent another method of arranging the stairways` of two tenements in one building having a width of twenty feet or thereabouts, and which may be termed interlocking tenements,7 or those wherein the rooms of the two tenements are disposed on the same side of their several staireases. Fig. 5 is a view of the ground floor. Fig. 6 is another of the second floor. Fig. 7 is a plan of the cellar story.

A, Fig. 5 is the doorway or front entrance to one tenement, and B is that of the other, they being arranged side by side as seen in the drawing. From the first door A a hall or entry extends a' short distance in rear thereof. This hall communicates with one of two parlors C, D, through a doorway E. The parlors extend from front to rear of the house and are opened into each other by sliding or folding doors arranged in the ordinary manner in the partition F, between them. A doorway G, from the front parlor opens into a rear entry H. A doorway I of the rear parlor also opens into the entry H. In this entry the staircase K, which ascends to the third story (in which the chambers of this tenement are arranged) leads from the part thereof just in front of the door G to a landing L on the second story, from which it turns upward as seen at M in Fig. 6.

N, Figs. 5, and 7, is the staircase which descends to the front half O of the cellar or kitchen which is t-he part set off to the irst tenant, the other half being used by the second occupant.

The front door B of the other tenement opens from an entry or hall P running parallel with the other main entry. A staircase Q, ascends from the entry P to the entry R', on the second floor, communicating with a couple of parlors It, S. A staircase T starts as seen in Fig. 6, and leads to the chambers. The staircase leading to the cellar and kitchen from the main entry P, is seen at U in Figs. 5, 7. From the above it will be seen that the several staircases of both conjoined tenements interlock, or in other words wind about a central and vertical partition w dividing the space or area usually set apart in one house for entry and st airways, and by this arrangement both tenants are eii'ectually separated from each other and much room or land is saved in the construction of buildings. Instead of the straight staircases as employed and represented in the figures which denote my second improvement or that last described, two circular flights winding around one central post may be adopted.

Fig. 8 represents the ground floor of the two tenements shown in Fig. 5, wherein the circular staircases are seen as disposed about a central cylindrical post y.

Fig. 9 is a plan of the second floor and Fig. 10 another of the third story representing these staircases arranged about each other and leading to various landings and apartments in substantially the same manner as those denoted in t-he drawings which exhibit my second improvement.

Having thus set forth my improvements I shall claim- The above described method or methods of arranging staircases in connection with each other and in combination with the several suites, of apartments leading thereto from said staircases, the whole being constructed substantially in the manner andl for the object as above specified.

W. P. GIBBS.

Vitnesses It. H. EDDY, CI-IAs. L. PECK. 

